Dystopia Box Set [Books 1-4]

by Cooper, DJ

  They had a large front and side yard that they could see anyone coming a good way off and commended them on the use of the tree stands for lookouts. “That blind you’ve erected is a good first line. But you need to be careful about the ones in the blind. If they don’t get out early in a fight they could be in danger of getting cut off from the rest.”

  Jeremy nodded and interjected. “I built it so that you couldn’t tell from either side. I thought it would be good to be able to catch any intruders in a crossfire.”

  Ryan agreed with that but putting his hand to his chin, he said, “You should at least fortify it with sandbags, something to give them cover.”

  Jeremy thought that was a smart idea and said he would do it today.

  Matt introduced them to Gary and Kimber and told him they’d also been involved with George’s group explained that they’d left early on for the same reasons as the rest of them. Ryan told them they were welcome in his group and they could sure use the help. They both volunteered on the spot.

  While sitting in the mess hall chatting, Matt asked Ryan about his group.

  Ryan sat sipping the soda they’d offered him. “You know. Before all this, I’d been quietly lurking as part of several online groups. They were actively trying to get together to defend not only their own areas in times like this but also the constitution itself… Against even our own government to defend our rights.”

  Matt said, “You all seem like you’re pretty organized and together. All I managed to find in many of these groups were some people making random rules. Dumb rules that if not followed would get a person kicked out. Many people would not agree with the rules so they would leave and go start a new group. I just kept watching them splinter and bicker over things that were not even relevant.”

  Ryan explained that when he’d first joined they had that same problem. He said it was the “Alpha Male Syndrome.” Finishing off the can, he continued, “Each person vies for a position. People are granted positions of influence or perceived power where none is deserved, earned or voted upon.”

  He explained that not long after he joined them, which at the time it was just another online group that met on occasion, there was an argument between a number of these perceived leaders in his group, and a huge split had taken place. “My group took some time to decide what made someone a leader. We found that many of those who had been somehow appointed as leaders were simply ones who had more time to stay online. Some actually went to some of the meetings but in fact, they had zero leadership skills and most of the men would not even follow them. “

  Matt chuckled, saying, “Couch commandos.”

  Ryan looked puzzled, squinting and tilting his head a like a confused puppy. Matt smiled and explained that it was what Dez called them.

  Ryan nodded, smiling as he continued saying, “Yea, that’s a good one. Well, we decided to just begin doing FTX and see who could shine as leaders. We found that sometimes someone that we rarely even heard from online showed up for these meetings. A few were indeed uniquely suited for things, as the guys naturally followed them during the exercises.” Matt was impressed, nodding his head. “We felt the same way. But George kept saying it was his group and anyone who did not like it could leave, so we left.”

  Ryan told him there were a lot of good patriots out there that were just too caught up in the politicking and fighting to be cohesive. “Can you imagine how strong we could have been? Were it not for all the power grabbing and fighting before all this we wouldn’t be scrambling to get things together now. We are gaining members now from all the separate groups that splintered off. They come in almost every day. It’s getting there, but it just stinks we wasted so much time fighting amongst ourselves.”

  Matt agreed with him and said it was good to hear that they were getting it together for the good of everyone. They shook hands and as Ryan started to leave Frank explained that he would need to be home after he looked at the crossroads. He would need his truck and agreed to bring Gary and Kimber to meet up at the sheriff’s office in two hours.

  Dez asked Ryan if he would mind stopping in on the family at the end of the road. She told him about the father and asked about a doctor. Ryan told her that they had a medic. He assured her they would go check it out. He asked what they’d done for his medical needs and Rebecca explained. He nodded and said he would tell his medic about it and see if anything more could be done. Ryan said he would contact Arthur tomorrow and leave a message with him.

  Dez nodded. “Arthur can pass it on via the CB if there is any information.”

  Matt was impressed with how they’d gotten themselves organized. He was babbling on to Dez about how they were so well set up and how he admired Ryan’s group. Dez stood there shaking her head disapprovingly. He looked at her and said, “What? They are…”

  “Have you looked around here lately? Our people are organized and working things through as well. You, my dear, are doing just as well right here. Give our friends a little credit, will ya.”

  Matt looked around and knew she was right. He just stood there nodding sheepishly in affirmation.

  Chapter 15

  “Raiders”

  “Surely the best way to meet the enemy is head-on, in the field and not wait till they plunder our very homes.”

  -Oliver Goldsmith

  The next morning Rebecca, Matt, and Cameron went down to see how the father was doing. They wanted to pick up the kids and see about their water and heat situation. Matt mentioned maybe they could do what Jeremy had done in the windows in the foreclosed house.

  Cameron obviously had a crush on the girl and Rebecca encouraged him to come along. Upon arrival she immediately went in to see how their father was doing. She was surprised at how much better he was. Checking his bandages and his wound she was also impressed at how clean it was.

  He was sitting up in the bed. The rancid smell was gone and he looked clean and the color had returned to his face. He immediately thanked her for the help.

  She smiled at him. “My name is Rebecca, and the two guys that came with me are Matt and Cameron. They came to help and see about water and heat for your family.”

  He nearly cried thanking them for everything and telling them that they were the Wilsons. “This here is Mary and I’m Bert.”

  Matt was standing in the door. “Thank the kids; they were the ones that found us and brought us here to help.” Walking in the room to shake his hand he continued, “They are also coming up to our place today to help in the garden to earn some fresh vegetables and get some hunting in for your family. When you’re feeling better we can work towards getting you stocked up for the winter.”

  They told him they would return the next day. They’d planned to assess their situation and would come back with some things that would hopefully make things easier for them. Bert and Mary both thanked them again and told the kids to behave.

  As they were leaving Mary approached Matt. “Before you go, can you help me with the fire out back? I need to boil some bandages and water.”

  Matt said he would be happy to. When they got out back by the fire pit, he noticed that most of the wood was at least partially green. He knew what the problem was. With the wood being green it would likely just smoke and wouldn’t burn. They needed some dry wood and probably some kind of accelerant. He sent Cameron into the wooded area across the road to find some. He went into the bathroom and returned with an empty toilet paper tube, some cotton balls, Vaseline and nail polish remover.

  Watching him, everyone was curious to see what he had planned. Matt explained that the accelerant could not just be poured on the wood as it would simply burn off the accelerant and would not catch the wood on fire. He took the cotton balls and slathered them in Vaseline then stuffed them into the tube. Next, he put a little nail polish remover on the last cotton ball and set the tube under some dry tinder. He took out his knife and sparked the flint on the back of his magnesium fire starter keychain. Poof! It caught immediately and as the tube slowly
burned it caught the dry wood.

  He stood and as he did everyone clapped. He’d not realized there was an audience. Matt bowed for his fans and shooed them off. Mary asked him how he’d learned to do that.

  Matt laughed, “Purely by accident.”

  Mary had a quizzical look, tilting her head slightly with one eyebrow raised. He explained, “Dez and I were out camping with some friends and I went into her purse for some Advil. When I opened the bottle it was not Advil but cotton balls soaked in nail polish remover. It was silly but she told me that she did not like to have ugly nail polish, so she kept it just in case of a chip she could just take it off.” She laughed a small laugh. He smiled as he continued, “Since I had it out she decided to use it. When she’d finished she tossed it in the fire. It lit up before it even hit the fire; I’d not realized how flammable acetone was till then but it burned up fast. I experimented with other things and found that Vaseline is flammable, but much slower burning. And… voila, instant fire starter.”

  Mary was both amazed and grateful. She thanked him for all they’d done and hugged him as they left.

  When they returned to the house the kids went off with Cameron, Jeremy, and Conner to do a bit of hunting. They taught them to set a snare and managed to get a couple turkeys with the bow. They learned that the girl’s name was Astrid and she was sixteen. Eric was seventeen and Jona was eighteen.

  Astrid and Cameron hit it off right away and were quickly finding that they had many like interests. Eric was quiet and mostly kept to himself although Jeremy liked him and managed to get him talking. Once the ice broke they chatted about various things most of the afternoon.

  Conner picked up right away on Jona’s anger issues. He would get angry every time something did not go the way he wanted it to. Conner didn’t really like him much, but then again Jona did not seem to like anyone either. Jona told Astrid that he felt like this crap was stupid and he didn’t think he should have to do it.

  The kids walked back to their house that afternoon with two turkeys and a basket of veggies and herbs in hand. Astrid was happily chattering away about a whole lot of nothing when out of nowhere Jona pushed her to the ground and told her to be quiet.

  Astrid began to whimper. He turned and looked at her angrily and motioned for her to run back up to the house. He pointed down to the end of the road and made a gesture with his hand resembling a gun. She ran up the hill crying and told Jeremy that the boys had sent her back.

  He asked why, and she said she didn’t know, but showed them what Jona had motioned. Jeremy told Matt and Sam and they grabbed their guns and headed for where the boys were. Tawny and Lynn were in the yard and saw them take off with their guns and went with them. They ran, sprinting down the hill to where the boys were. They weren’t sure what was going on yet, so they didn’t want to take any chances that the vehicles would make noise and possibly give them away.

  When they reached the boys, they could see why they sent Astrid back. Matt whispered to Jona, “How many?”

  Jona shook his head. “Not exactly sure, but I know there are at least ten to twelve of them.” Then he said, “I think these are some seriously bad guys. I saw them shoot a girl over in that field.”

  He motioned to the left side of the road at the intersection. There was a horse paddock beside a large barn where they could see a body lying in the field.

  Matt motioned for Tawny to take up a sniper position on the left side of them on the hill, which is exactly what she was best at. Lynn took up a position on the hill to the right. Her perch was overlooking the kids’ house, which was just beyond the bend in the road.

  It was hiding it from the sight of the kids and couldn’t be seen from where they were standing. Lynn gasped, waving for Matt to come up and for everyone else to get down. When Matt crawled up to her position he could see why she was so upset.

  The house was fully engulfed in flames; he knew it was Astrid’s parents. They could see a body in the yard but didn’t know if it was that of a friend or foe. Matt and Lynn did not want the boys to have to see this.

  Matt crawled back down the hill, “Eric, go back to the house and tell Dez to call Arthur on the CB. Have him contact Ryan to get the Militia guys out here ASAP.” Looking first to Jona and then back to Eric he continued, “I need you to stay and watch Dez and the kids so Loel and Connor can come have a look. Tell them I need them to hurry up and for them to bring the Oh Shit box. I need them to take up positions and help decide how to proceed.”

  Eric replied, “Oh Shit?”

  Matt nodded. “They know what it is. It is mixed ammo for all the standard guns we carry. Now go on, get going and tell them to hurry.”

  All he really wanted was for Eric not to see this. He knew Jona would have no part of leaving the fight and accepted that he was going to see it sooner or later.

  Loel came down with the walkie and handed it to Matt. Matt told Loel to head up to Lynn’s position and help her set up a choke point where they were now. He figured the animals that did this would likely try and come up the road. He’d hoped the militia guys could get here before then. Dez radioed they were on their way, but it would be about thirty minutes. Matt passed on the information to everyone and they took positions on either side of the road. Jona was becoming angry that he could not go check on his aunt and uncle.

  He got up to leave his position, saying, “I’m going down there.”

  Matt and Connor tackled him to the ground. Matt sat on him and told him he needed to listen to him. He hoisted him off the ground and had him crawl up the hill to Lynn’s position. Before they got to the top he told him that if he called out or made a sound to give away their position, he would tie and gag him.

  Matt looked at him and said with a deadly serious tone, “You could get people killed if you make even a sound and I know you will not want to sit this particular fight out. So, you keep your emotions in check and keep your cool. You got that?”

  Jona nodded and finished climbing to the top. When he looked down and saw the house he gasped in disbelief.

  Matt cupped his hand over Jona’s mouth and said, “Shhhhhh.” Jona began to cry quietly, his head down.

  He suddenly looked up at Matt, knowing then why he sent Eric up to get Loel. Matt just nodded and they crawled back down the hill. Jona was trying to wipe the tears from his face as he approached his position.

  Matt said to Loel, “This angry young man just got a whole lot angrier. He should not be here but I also can’t tell him that. He deserves the chance to fight for his family.”

  Loel just nodded and said, “Hopefully our guys will get here before they try to come up the road.”

  There was crackling on the radio and the voice was anxious; it was Frank. He was still with Ryan having just finished finding the right road to George’s place. He asked their positions and any Intel they had.

  Matt explained everything and ending said, “Frank… they hit the kid’s house. Over.”

  “Shit man, that sucks. Where are the kids? Over.”

  Matt replied, “They’re ok. Eric and Astrid are at our place and Jona is here with us on the line. Over.”

  “We are 25 strong here and coming in. The sheriff is in the lead with lights on. If the gang comes your way sheriff says cut em’ down. This is the break they’ve been waiting for, it’s their chance to get this gang.”

  There was some brief static before they could hear Frank again, “They’re part of the gang out of Lexington. These ass holes have been killing and burning all over the county. Over.”

  Matt acknowledged and passed on the info to the others. “This is the firebreak guys, keep your cool. If they come up the road wait for my signal before firing. Let’s bring em’ in close enough to not waste ammo.” Each started to move out to relay the message to the hilltops. When Matt said, “We shoot to kill. This is bad, and if they get away, they’ll come back. Have Tawny and Lynn concentrate on the rear since they have the range. The rest of us just aim for the first person you see.
Make em’ count!”

  Moments later they heard the siren followed by gunshots. As predicted they came up the road. Matt’s hand was raised until they crossed the imaginary line he’d drawn in his head. Crossing it, he lowered his outstretched arm and immediately Tawny fired and took out two of them in the rear and Lynn got another one, sending them and their bikes crashing into the ditch. The others in the gang saw this and got on it, increasing their speed even more. Once they reached the choke point where the others were waiting it was over in minutes. These guys never had a chance; they were caught in a crossfire with no place to go.

  Two of them were alive but wounded badly. The sheriff took them in his car with him. The militia guys gathered up the rest of them, or what was left of them. They were piled into the back of the truck. The first one Tawny shot with the 30.06 had a bullet that went in through what space his nose had occupied and left a gaping hole in the back of his skull.

  Ryan called out, “Holy shit! Whoever your snipers are, they have deadly aim.”

  Tawny stood looking at her fingernails as if it was a cake walk. Lynn shook her head and gave her a shove. “C’mon there, Annie, let’s go check on the kids.”

  Tawny just looked at her questioning. “Annie?”

  “Yeah, you know… Annie Oakley?” She turned on her heel and headed up the hill to the house.

  Gary and Kimber were with the men who came and they walked over to check on everyone. They went up to the house with Lynn to wait for Matt and Loel to get there. They had taken Jona to check on the situation at his aunt and uncle’s place.

  Gary looked concerned while talking to Jeremy. “We have been seeing this same thing all over the county since yesterday and it is not likely anyone is alive down there. These guys don’t leave survivors.”